- Moore Gypsy
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Gypsy Role Single seat sailplane National origin United Kingdom Manufacturer The Birmingham Guild Ltd. Designer L. P. Moore, J. Gibson and K. Emslie First flight 7 April 1970 The Moore Gypsy is an early all-metal, single seat, short span sailplane designed in the UK in the late 1960s. Several longer span variants were produced by various manufacturers. One of these was still flying in 2011.
Contents
Design and development
The Moore Gypsy was a small sailplane, all metal, apart from a GRP nose, constructed by the Birmingham Guild Ltd. It has shoulder mounted, 12 m (39 ft 4.4 in) span wings of constant chord and with square tips. The wings are light alloy structures with polyurethane foam cores and 0.0124 in (315 μm) light alloy skins. Ailerons and flaps occupy the whole of the trailing edge. The Gypsy has a constant chord V-tail constructed in the same manner as the wing.[1]
Its fuselage behind the nose is an oval section metal monocoque with a long, smooth, bulged canopy over the single seat cockpit that rejoins the fuselage profile. There is a single, semi-protruding fixed mono wheel under the wing and a small tailwheel.[1]
The first Gypsy, c/n B.G. 100, made its first flight from Pendeford airfield near Wolverhampton on 7 April 1970, piloted by Derek Piggott.[1]
A 13.5 m (44 ft 3.5 in) version, usually known as the B.G. 135, was demonstrated at the British Nationals in late May – early June 1972.[2] Its limited production by The Birmingham Guild[3] was later taken over by Yorkshire Sailplanes as the YS 55 Consort.[4][5]
The Swales SD3-15 was a further development of the design with a 15 m (49 ft 2.5 in) span, making its first flight in July 1975.[3][6] The Swales SD3-15T was a further, early 1977, revision with a T-tail. Compared with the original 12.0 m span Gypsy, the empty weight had increased by 75%, though the performance was similar.[6]
Operational history
At least one example has had an extended active life. The first B.G. 135, Certificate of Airworthiness BGA 1741, competed at the Inter-services Regional Glider Competition held at Hullavington in August 1998,[7] 26 years after its first competitive appearance. BGA 1741 was recorded at Keevil in 2009.[8] In 2011 it was privately owned and based at Lasham Airfield.[9]
Variants
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- Moore Gypsy or (Birmingham Guild) B.G.100
- Original version, 12 m span
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- B.G. 135, later Yorkshire Sailplanes YS 55 Consort
- 13.5 m span version, 1972
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- Swales SD3-15
- 15 m span development, 1975
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- Swales SD3-15T
- T-tail version of Swales SD3-15, 1977
Specifications (Moore Gypsy)
Data from British Gliders and Sailplanes 1922-1970[1]
General characteristics
- Crew: 1
- Length: 19 ft 8 in (5.99 m)
- Wingspan: 39 ft 4 in (12.0 m)
- Aspect ratio: 17.15
- Airfoil: Wortmann FX61-168
- Empty weight: 275 lb (125 kg)
- Gross weight: 520 lb (236 kg)
Performance
- Rate of sink: 134 ft/min (0.68 m/s) minimum at 46 mph (74 km/h)
- Lift-to-drag: 31
- Wing loading: 5.78 lb/sq ft (28.2 kg/m²)
References
- ^ a b c d Ellison, Norman (1971). British Gliders and Sailplanes 1922-1970. London: A & C Black Ltd. p. 147. ISBN 0 7136 1189 8 5.
- ^ "British Nationals". Flight 101 (3301): p.868. 15 June 1972. http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1972/1972%20-%201513.html.
- ^ a b "Private Flying - 15 m of Light Alloy". Flight 108 (3467): p.253. 21 June 1975. 15 m of Light Alloy. http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1975/1975%20-%201563.html.
- ^ "Private Flying - Swales SD3-15T arborne". Soaring Pilot 1 (4): p.10. 12 March 1977. http://www.lakesgc.co.uk/mainwebpages/Soaring%20Pilot/No%20Winter%201973-74.pdf.
- ^ "BGA glider data sheet - BG 135 (Gypsy) & YS 55 (Consort)". http://www.gliding.co.uk/bgainfo/technical/datasheets/bg135.pdf. Retrieved 2011-10-20.
- ^ a b "Private Flying - Swales SD3-15T arborne". Flight 111 (3548): p.632. 12 March 1977. http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1977/1977%20-%200672.html.
- ^ "Display Diary". Soaring Pilot 27 (12): p.1614. December 1998.
- ^ "BGA 1741". http://abpic.co.uk/search.php?q=BGA1741%20/%20CRF&u=reg. Retrieved 2011-11-15.
- ^ "B.G. 135 at Lasham". http://www.sugc.net/club/what. Retrieved 2011-11-15.
External links
Lists relating to aviation General Aircraft (manufacturers) · Aircraft engines (manufacturers) · Airlines (defunct) · Airports · Civil authorities · Museums · Registration prefixes · Rotorcraft (manufacturers) · TimelineMilitary Accidents/incidents Records Categories:- British sailplanes 1970–1979
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